Button Rock Reservoir fire near Lyons snuffed

LYONS — A fire that started from wind-whipped embers in an extinguished controlled slash-pile burn charred 1.2 acres Friday at Button Rock Reservoir west of Lyons.

Firefighters had the blaze out by about 3:30 p.m. Friday, 12 hours after it sparked.

Sheriff's Department deputies on Longmont Dam Road while responding to a small wildfire near Button Rock Reservoir west of Lyons on Friday morning, March 11, 2011. (Richard M. Hackett/Times-Call)

Crews from the city of Longmont — which owns 90 percent of the land around the reservoir — had begun burning about 50 slash piles of twigs and branches a week ago as part of its Forest Management and Stewardship Program, Longmont Public Safety Chief Mike Butler said. “The slash piles have been there for five years. If there ever was a fire, these piles would feed it. So, we were protecting the watershed,” Butler said.

Crews extinguished fires on Tuesday just before finishing the project when the forecast called for windy, warm weather later in the week.

Six Longmont firefighters stayed onsite around the clock to make sure no embers caught, Butler said.

But 65 mph wind gusts on Friday morning fanned the slash piles into flames at 4:45 a.m., according to city officials.

“The firefighters were there when the winds began to blow. They were out checking,” Butler said. “They tried to extinguish it, but they made the excellent decision to call in more resources.”

The charred land sits north of the reservoir near Longmont Dam Road. The fire closed that road and North St. Vrain Drive before 50 firefighters from eight agencies contained it.

id that none of the eight to 10 homes near the reservoir was threatened. However, one of the residences was evacuated as a precaution.

It helped that the wind drove the fire to the northeast into a rocky embankment with patches of snow, city spokesman Rigo Leal said.

“The city of Longmont did some very good planning. But with the wind being so strong, it reignited the piles. It's an unfortunate wind event,” he said.

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